Shakib, Tamim’s return came as relief: Mashrafe

Talha Kamal Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said return of team’s two stalwarts Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal will be a big boost for Tigers ahead of ODI series against Windies. Bangladesh will face Windies today in first ODI of the three-match series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Both Shakib and Tamim were absent from squad due to injury in the last ODI series against Zimbabwe. However, Shakib Al Hasan had already played in Test series and performed brilliantly after returning from finger injury while Tamim scored a brilliant ton in the warm up match at BKSP. Tamim returns to the roster after fracturing his left wrist during the Asia Cup back in September. In a pre match press conference in Mirpur yesterday, Mashrafe was in a vibrant mood as both of his trump cards returned to team. Mashrafe told that it is a big relief for the whole Tigers squad to have Shakib and Tamim back. “Obviously Shakib and Tamim being in the team is a big advantage. The fact that Tamim played the warm up match and made runs is a big relief for us and him as well, said Mashrafe. Mashrafe’s relief was not surprising at all as the duo were Bangladesh’s best performer during the series against the Windies at the Caribbean island. During that series, Bangladesh recovered from a disappointing Test series drubbing to clinch the ODI and the T20 series. Mashrafe also said Tamim will take some time to settle in the squad as he lacks match fitness. Mashrafe insisted just because he struck a fantastic ton in the last practice match against Windies does not mean he will start to play all guns blazing. “I will say that it is difficult to get back to your normal game after coming from injury. It takes time but Tamim had already made a century in the previous match, so it is not right to expect that he will again play an extraordinary innings in the next match. He could play better than he did or he may not,” he added. Meanwhile, Mashrafe also wanted to end this successful year of Bangladesh cricket on high. He believes this year was Bangladesh’s best year apart from the two finals which they lost. “I think our performance was very good in this year apart from the two finals. It would have been felt good if we could have won one of them especially the Asia Cup. Our rating is also very good this year, so if we can end this series well then it will be a great year for us,” said Mashrafe. Though Bangladesh whitewashed Zimbabwe in the last ODI series, but they failed to bowl Zimbabwe out in any of the games. Now facing a bit tougher opponent than them, skipper admitted that his team needs to improve. “Yes, we failed to bowl Zimbabwe out in any of the game. But we did what we needed to do to win, We also did some experiments during that series, like Rubel didn’t play in that series. He was our best bowler in the Asia Cup, but he wasn’t there in the Zimbabwe series.”